


So Wrong It's Right

by masturb8



Category: All Time Low, barakarth, jalex - Fandom
Genre: Jalex - Freeform, M/M, barakarth - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-18
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2017-12-20 13:17:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/887729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masturb8/pseuds/masturb8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has had a crush on a teacher, at least once in their life. Teenage Jack Barakat moves to a new school in Baltimore, Maryland. While he's there he meets an interesting character, Mr. Gaskarth (Alex Gaskarth).<br/>Mr. Gaskarth just so happens to be Jack's band teacher. Over time they form an unexpected relationship and It's very important they keep it a secret though, or else everything could be ruined.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First day of school

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if i don't update this story often. I often forget that this website exists...  
> But if you want to read more you can follow my wattpad account, masturb8

“Wake up or you’re going to be late for your first day of school!”  
Young Jack woke abruptly to the sound of his mother banging on the door.  
“Okay!” he yelled back letting her know he was awake so she’d leave him alone. He sighed in annoyance and rubbed his eyes as he yawned. He yawned loudly as he slowly got himself to sit up. He turned and slid of the side of the bed and got to his feet as he stretched his arms high into the air. He had the worst taste in his mouth and his eyes felt heavy. He groaned as he rubbed his eyes again.  
“Ugh” another yet more annoyed groan was made as he saw that it was only 5:40 am. The sun hasn’t even begun to rise yet. He never understood how his parents could just wake up so easily in the mornings.  
He made his way over to the big pile of clothes lying around on the floor. Both dirty and clean pants and shirts lay all over the place and on top of each other. His parents tried their best to get him to organize his things but he didn’t really listen nor did he even really care. He picked up the most reasonably clean clothes he had. It was some kind of black shirt, probably a band t shirt, and some skinny jeans. They didn’t smell like sweat or dirt and they didn’t have any stains on them so he assumed they were clean. He then replaced his old clothes with the new ones he had found.  
Jack lazily walked out of his room and went into the bathroom that was just at the end of the hall. He turned on the lights which nearly blinded him and he turned on the sink faucet. He grabbed his blue tooth brush and squeezed a small amount of toothpaste on the bristles. He put it under the water, causing some of the paste to fall off, and then began to brush his teeth. Not even a minute later, he spit out the minty foam into the sink and rinsed out his mouth with some water. He turned off the water and looked up into the mirror. He ran his finger through his hair and ruffled it up as if to substitute brushing it. It looked messy yet oddly attractive at the same time. He enjoyed making himself look as though he just didn’t give a shit about his appearance. Girls usually found him attractive that way. He also put on some deodorant to make sure he didn’t smell like shit all day.   
He turned off the light on his way out and shut the door behind him. He walked down the stairs into the living room to find his shoes where he usually left them. His favorite pair of Vans were lying next to the couch where is mother always puts them.  
“Are you going to eat something?” Jack’s mother asked.  
“No” he replied as he put on his shoes.  
“Why not, Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” she tried to coax him.  
“I think I’ll be alright” he retorted. His mother sighed as she knew she couldn’t make that boy do anything. Jack picked up his back pack and threw it over his shoulder.  
“You got my car keys?” he turned to his mother. She sighed and reluctantly tossed him the keys to his car. Jack caught them in midair, he then turned to leave out the door but his mother stopped him.  
“Are you not going to say good bye?” she asked. Jack let out a small sigh and walked over to his mom, planting a small kiss on her head.  
“Bye mom. I’ll see you later” he said before turning away again.  
“Have a good day, sweetie” she said happily before he left out the door. He closed the door behind him on his way out and walked down the front porch steps and over to his car which was parked in their drive way. The sun was slowly making its way up into the sky. The sky was now a dark shade a blue, instead of pitch black. He unlocked his car door and climbed in, closing the door back as he sat down. He put his car keys in the ignition and started the car. He threw his back pack on the passenger seat. He pulled out his iPod and plugged it into the stereo, blasting Blink-182. Jack loved to start his day of with some music, it always seemed to make the day a little more bearable. He pulled out of the driveway and began making his way towards Dulaney high school.  
He was really nervous about going to a new school. Jack was 17 now, going on into his junior year. You’d think an attractive young man like Jack wouldn’t have any problem with making friends or getting girls but he actually does. He has a really great personality and a great appearance; he just dislikes most of the people around him. He tries talking to people but they’re either too lame or too annoying. He never really fit in much. Everyone had their own little clique to go to; Jack just sat alone with the comfort of his music. Even at lunch he sat alone, finding satisfaction in his iPod. When the teacher was done with their lessons, he would sit there at his desk listening to music while all the other classmates just talked to each other. Sometimes teachers would send him to the counselor saying he’s depressed. The truth though was he just enjoyed being alone. He’d told himself he would much rather be alone than hang out with people who didn’t even like. It seemed like every year he became more and more antisocial.  
It did get lonely sometimes though. Never having anyone to talk about your favorite bands and TV shows with, not having anyone come over to your house to play video games with you, no one to text when you’re bored. Jack always tried to make the best of it though. He saw it as a chance to just have some peace and quiet. Never having anyone to let you down, no one getting on your nerves, having all the time in the world to do what you want, not having any burdens. He couldn’t deny it though, he hated not having someone to talk to, to laugh with, and to go places with but he tried his hardest not to depress himself. His mom was probably his closest friend, and not to mention his pet goldfish, Larry, who he often neglected. He honestly enjoyed spending time with his mom though. Watching movies and cooking dinner with her. He still needed someone with his sense of humor and style though, he couldn’t exactly talk vulgar around his mom or she would have a heart attack, nor does she like his, as she called it ‘rebel music’, which made him laugh.  
Jack was hoping to make at least one good friend this year. This new school looked like it was a lot larger than his old one back home. A few songs later, Jack finally got closer and closer to the school. He found himself pulling into the parking lot, his heart now beating faster as reality hit him. He found his designated parking spot and pulled in. A sigh was made as he turned the car off by twisting the keys towards him. He unplugged his iPod and replaced the cord with headphones, placing them in his ears and slipping the device in his back pocket. He picked up his backpack as he opened the door. He threw the backpack over his shoulder as he stood up. He shut the door and made sure to lock it before walking off. Hesitantly, he made his way up to the entrance of the school building. His feet stopped and he froze in fear as he stood there in front of the door. It felt as though he was close to having a panic attack at this point. It was weird; he couldn’t remember the last time he was this nervous about something. He sighed to try and relief some of the stress, he then decided it was time to grow a pair so he swallowed hard and opened the door to walk inside.  
The smell of teen angst hit him in the face. Not really, it was just the smell of the hallways. He had never smelled anything like it before though; it was all new to him. It was weird because he couldn’t explain it, almost like explaining what water tastes like. The further he walked the more people he saw, many different and new faces of boys and girls. Some threw glances back at him, some seemed flirty, some curious, some scoffed. Everyone seemed to be in their own special little group with their friends while Jack just stood there all by himself. He walked mindlessly through the hallway, not really knowing where to go or what to do, he felt so out of place and awkward. The sound of loud chatter filled every inch of the hallways; everyone excited about seeing their friends again and starting their new classes.  
Suddenly he heard a loud ringing noise and all the groups started to scatter which obviously meant that it was time to start class. Jack pulled out his schedule list and it said his first class was English in room 107. He had no clue where that was. He looked around and saw another boy who had semi long brown hair; it was messy and a little wavy. He was a little bit shorter than Jack too. The boy seemed approachable so he began walking towards him. He cleared his throat;  
“Hey” Jack said and the boy turned around, obviously not expecting to see him.  
“Sup” the boy replied with a friendly smile.  
“I like your shirt” he said when his eyes met his shirt. Jack hadn’t realized he had put on a New Found Glory t-shirt.  
“Thanks but, uhm, I was wondering if you could tell me where this class is” he pointed to his schedule and the boy squinted his eyes at it.  
“Oh, I’m going there too. You can just follow me but I’m telling you now, she’s kind of a bitch, so I’ve heard” he said still smiling.  
“Great” Jack said slightly agitated at the thought.  
“Let’s go” he said pointing to the other end of the hallway with his thumb. They then set off to the classroom, Jack following the newly met boy. They soon found themselves in front of room 107 and they walked in, Jack still following behind. They took their seats in the back of class next to each other.  
“Hey, Rian, who’s the new kid?” a kid with long shaggy hair sitting behind Rian asked.  
“I don’t know. What’s your name?” Rian asked turning to Jack.  
“I’m Jack” he said with a small half smile.  
“I’m Zack” said the boy with the long messy hair.  
“-and I’m Rian” said the other boy.  
“Yeah, I kind of caught that” Jack smiled a little more. Rian shrugged with a smile back to Jack.  
“This sucks; we have Mrs. Charlotte for this class now.” said Zack.  
“At least she’s better than Mrs. Yankee” said Rian.  
“Who’s Mrs. Yankee? What happened to her?” Jack felt like including himself in the conversation.  
“I heard she got caught doing drugs or something” Zack said lowering his voice a little. Jack just smirked in slight disbelief. The kinds of rumors kids like to make up.  
“Whatever though, she was a bitch. She gave me detention once for talking when I was just trying to get some paper off of someone” Rian exclaimed.  
“Sounds like she needs to get laid” Jack joked. Rian and Zack laughed a little which pleased Jack. Not even an hour and things were going good so far, though he tried not to get his hopes up too high, things could go downhill any minute.  
Suddenly the bell rang again, signaling it was time to start class. A young woman walked in the class, her hair up in a tight and neat bun, thick rimmed black glasses on her face, about 5’8” and probably 160 pounds. She seemed in a hurry and she was carrying a large stack of books and folders which she quickly dropped them down on her desk. She sighed in relief.  
“Good morning class” she said brightly, only receiving a few good mornings back from the students.  
“I’m going to pass this paper around the classroom and I want you to all put your name on it” he pulled out a paper and handed it to the first person in the first row of desks.  
“She doesn’t seem that bad” Jack said to Rian and Zack.  
“Yeah, she can be really annoying though. She talks too much and tries to make stupid puns and she also has her really bitchy days. I don’t know, just try to stay on her good side” Rian shrugged, Zack nodding in agreement as he looked at Jack.  
“Stupid puns? That’s cute I guess” Jack shrugged. The paper slowly made its way around the room and finally made it to Jack. He wrote down his name in his usual sloppy hand writing then passed it to Zack, who wrote down his name quite fancily, not what Jack was expecting but whatever. The paper then went to Rian and then off to the next random person. Once the paper was handed back to the teacher she began to talk again.  
“Okay I’m just going to talk about a few rules in here; please be respectful to one another. I don’t like you guys sharing homework answers. I don’t care if you eat in here or listen to your iPods, but no texting.” She continued blabbing on. After that she started passing out English text books, having everyone tell her which book number they got so at the end of the semester she could see who kept up with theirs and who has to pay to buy another one, even though no one really ever had to. As soon as Zack and Rian got their books they began drawing inappropriate things in them like a couple of immature 9 year olds. Jack had to admit it was pretty funny though. All the penises and stupid insults like ‘ur a fag’, and his personal favorite: ‘butt sniffer’.  
“You guys are so stupid” he laughed. Rian and Zack smiled widely at the comment.  
“Yeah but we’re fucking hilarious” Rian said confidently.  
“You just keep telling yourself that” Jack teased.  
“Listen here you little shit” he joked, Zack laughing at the two of them. The teacher hushed the class so she could go on to talk about the week’s lesson.  
“Now that it’s already been almost an hour I kind of want to go home now” Jack said to the two even though he wasn’t looking at the teacher.   
“Me too” Rian agreed. Almost another hour later after mindlessly turning through a text book and listening to the teacher talk about boring English stuff it was already almost time to move on to second period.  
“What class do you have next?” Zack asked. Jack began shuffling through his pockets for his schedule paper and pulled it out.  
“Algebra 2” he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.  
“Damn, I have U.S. History” he replied.  
“-and I have Spanish” said Rian.  
“Oh well. I can show you where you’ll next class will be though” he offered.  
“Okay” Jack let out a small sigh. ‘Looks like algebra class is going to be pretty boring’ he thought. Soon after, the bell rang and everyone began frantically packing their things away. Jack threw his back pack over his shoulder again and waited on Rian to show him the way to his next class. On their way out along with the rest of the students the teacher called out to them.  
“See you tomorrow” she said, getting no replies. Thankfully his algebra class wasn’t that far of a walk. Jack and Rian said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. He stepped in the room and found himself a desk to sit in as he watched the classroom fill quickly. The teacher for this class arrived a little bit earlier than the first one from his English class. Her name was Mrs. Averill, or so he assumed because it was written on the board in front of the entire class. She was short and stocky, short black hair that rested on her shoulders, and thing golden rimmed glasses. She couldn’t of been younger than 35. She announced that there would be assigned seats and a loud irritated groan echoed throughout the whole room. Jack never had a problem with assigned seats, considering he didn’t have any friends. Except for when he was placed between to friends who constantly talked to one another over him. After waiting patiently for his seat to be called, the teacher pointed to a desk sitting in the far left corner and said “Jack Barakat”. He made his way over there and sat down. He was soon disappointed to find that everyone sitting around him was a girl, but not just any kind of girl, the annoying preppy kind who always talked about cute boys and obsessed over their hair and usually talked a load of bullshit about other girls that they didn’t like.  
So far things were going fine. The teacher had handed out a worksheet to everyone to work on and he sat there quietly, not even really caring about his work but still answering a few questions, until a couple of girls tried to flirt with him. Their voices were so high pitched; their skin looked as if they went to the tanning bed at least 8 times a week and their hair were bleached beyond healthy. They wouldn’t stop commenting on how ‘cute’ he was. Eventually though they got the hint that he wasn’t interested when he wouldn’t compliment them back so they left him alone. He heard them whispering things like “so lame” and “boring”. He didn’t care though. He was never interested in girls like that.  
After a long and painful hour it was finally time to go on to study hall. It was only for 30 minutes so he just sat there and doodled in his notebook and listened to some music. Once that was over it was time to go to first lunch. He wasn’t worried about not having someone to sit with, but more worried about not having a table to sit at. Tons of students were gathered in the hallway making their way to the cafeteria. He just made his way through the crowd like everyone else. He walked in there and stood there, feeling awkward that he didn’t know where to sit. He looked left and right but the place was so big. Suddenly he felt a hand come down on his shoulder. He turned around and was pleased to see it was Rian.  
“You have first lunch? Cool.” He smiled  
“Obviously” he smiled back. Rian motioned him to follow him to a table that he and Zack were sitting at with a couple of their other friends. They walked over and sat down across from each other, Zack sitting to Jack’s right. He was already stuffing his face with french fries.  
“You going to eat?” Rian asked.  
“Nah, I hate school food” he replied.  
“What do you expect? This isn’t a 5 star restaurant” said Zack.  
“I expect fucking lobster” Jack banged his hand down on the table earning a laugh from them.  
“So how was algebra?” Rian asked.  
“It wasn’t that bad until these annoying girls named Shayna and Allison tried to flirt with me” he said.  
“Do you know how many guys would love to bang them?” said Zack in disbelief.  
“Yeah, well, I’ll pass” Jack said looking slightly disgusted.  
“What class do you have next?” Rian asked.  
“Band, I think” he replied.  
“So do we!” Zack said.  
“Cool” Jack smiled.  
“What instrument do you play?” Rian asked.  
“Guitar” he replied.  
“Me too!” Zack high fived him.  
“I play drums” Rian butted in.  
“Nice” Jack said in response. Rian and Zack managed to finish their lunches before it was time to go to band class. Jack was a little excited to finally start that class. He never got to before and now that he was going to he was also going to have some friends to talk to. The trio made their way to the band room which was much further from the rest of the classrooms, probably so the noise wouldn’t disturb other classes, though it took them a few minutes to get there. As they got closer Jack noticed a man standing in front of the door. He was a charming young man, couldn’t of been older than 25. He had sandy brown hair and a little bit of stubble on his face. He was wearing a dark red dress shirt and the sleeves were rolled up past his elbows. He was wearing black trousers and accessorized with a black tie. As soon as they got to the door the bell had rung and it was time to start class.  
“Good to see you boneheads could make it” he said with a friendly smirk. Then his eyes met Jack’s.  
“I see you guys have finally made a friend, wow” he teased.  
“I know, aren’t you proud of us!” Zack joked.  
“Yup, it’s going in the scrap book. Now get in so I can teach” he said in a playfully serious tone. They walked inside, the teacher following behind them, closing the door. The boys took their seats among their classmates as the teacher walked up to the board.  
“I am going to be your guys’ teacher this year. For those of you who don’t know, my name is Mr. Gaskarth” he picked up a blue marker.  
“Alex Gaskarth. That’s Gas-K-A-R-T-H” he wrote his name out on the board for everyone to see.  
“Now let’s go over some rules” he put down the marker.  
“So let’s say Rian here just decides that ‘Hey, screw you, Mr. Gaskarth I don’t have to listen to you’ and it puts me in a bad mood. When I’m in a bad mood, no one is in a good mood. Then I have to go home and smack my wife around and yell at the kids. Then the cops have to come and take me away” he said as all the students started laughing.  
“Nah, I’m just kidding. But don’t piss me off guys” he smiled.  
“I don’t have a wife” he said in a way that meant ‘I would if I had one though’.  
“Now, I don’t care if you guys cuss just as long as I don’t hear it. Also, if you’re going to chew gum in here you’d better share with me.” He said.  
“And no texting, I swear to god I will sell your phones on eBay.” he added.  
“Now I want any new students to come up to me and tell me what instrument they will be learning this year” he said as he walked over to his desk. Jack and a couple of other students stood up and made their way over to his desk. Jack was the last in line so he waited patiently as the two girls in front of him told the teacher about what instrument they would be playing. Soon enough it was his turn to tell him so he walked up to him, only a couple feet away. He finished up what he was writing and looked up at the multicolored haired boy. He made a small smile when their eyes met.  
“Ah, hello their mr….”  
“Jack” he smiled back.  
“Ah, Mr. Jack. What will you be practicing this year?” he asked with his pen ready.  
“Guitar” he replied.  
“ooh” he he cooed with interest.  
“Looks like Zack has some competition” he made a devilish laugh causing Jack to laugh a little at the hilarity of the sound.  
“Oh, and I like your shirt” he said before Jack turned away.  
“Thanks” he nodded before returning to his seat. As soon as he sat down Mr. Gaskarth stood back up.   
“Well since we still have an hour and twenty minutes left” he said looking down at his wrist watch”  
“-and I’m stuck with you morons, let’s just go around the room and say a little about ourselves, shall we? Who would like to go first?” he raised his eyebrows and rubbed his hands together to seem as if he were anticipated. Zack raised his hand first.  
“Zack we already know you’re gay. You don’t have to say anything” Mr. Gaskarth teased, giggles filling the room.  
“Haha, very funny” he said sarcastically, smiling and rolling his eyes.   
“Well then, go ahead and tell the class what you were really going to say” he gave him a sharp nod. Zack turned to the rest of the class.  
“Most of you already know me but my name is Zack and I really like food” he announced.   
“Is food some kind of slang for men?” the teacher smiled mischievously. Zack rolled his eyes again and sat back down as Rian stood up next.  
“Hi guys, my name is Rian and Zack is my lover” he looked to Zack with a cheeky smile, who was giving him the ‘fuck you’ look. More giggles filled the room.   
“You guys have been in this class since your freshman year, we all know this” said Mr. Gaskarth. Rian sat back down, looking at Zack, pleased with himself. Zack was just giving him the ‘go fuck yourself’ look, Jack just laughing at the two.   
“What about you, Mr. Jack?” the teacher turned to him, a half smile on his face.  
“Uhm, that’s confidential information. You already know my name and that’s too much” he said jokingly.  
“Is the government going to take you away?” he chuckled.   
“Yep” Jack nodded.   
“Alright, fair enough then” he smiled back. The rest of the class got a chance to say something about themselves, wasting an hour of the class.   
“Okay, well, it seems we’re almost out of time” Mr. Gaskarth looked down at his wrist watch again.   
“Thank god” he whispered but still loud enough for the class to hear.   
“I’ll see you all tomorrow, agreed?” he looked around the class who either said “yep” or “Agreed”. He walked back over to his desk and sat down on his chair and began typing on his computer.   
“You likin’ band so far?” Rian turned to Jack.  
“Yeah, the teacher’s pretty cool” he said.  
“Dude, everyone likes him. Almost every girl in this school thinks he’s hot.” said Zack. The teacher looked up to the ceiling as the belly went off. Everyone began getting up and leaving out the classroom. Gaskarth got up just as the last few students were leaving.  
“Ah, Mr. Jack” he said as he stepped closer to him. Jack turned around to him.   
“You can start bringing your instrument tomorrow” he said, holding the door open to him.   
“Okay, cool.” He smiled.   
“Can’t wait to hear you play.” He grinned politely. Jack just gave him a small nod then turned to leave. Mr. Gaskarth watched the students leave until they were out of sight before returning to his room.

\--

Later that day Jack drove back home once school had ended. He had't realized how tired he was until he sat back in his car. He knew he'd had to try his best to stay awake this afternoon so he wouldn't fall asleep and be awake all night. He pulled into his driveway and got out of his car. He grabbed his backpack and walked up to his front door, opening it then walking in. His mom was sitting on the couch with her laptop but she looked up from the screen to Jack. He walked over and sat down on the recliner, dropping his backpack on the ground next to it.   
"How was school today?" she asked cheerfully.  
"It was good" he replied sounding pleasant.   
"Really? Did you make any friends?" she asked.  
"Actually, yeah, I did" Jack smiled softly. Her jaw dropped as if she were surprised.  
"Really?" she sounded excited. Jack just nodded and smiled a little bigger.   
"That's great! Maybe now you can go out and do things on the weekend!" she exclaimed happily   
"Okay mom, I know you want to get rid of me-" he started to joke.  
"Oh, hush, that's not what i meant. You just stay cooped up in your room all the time. It's about time you started bringing friends over and going out and doing stuff" she explained.   
"Most moms don't like their kids going out so much" Jack said. She just shrugged. He felt really good now, knowing he made his mom happy today.   
"What are we having for dinner tonight?" he turned to her again. She just looked at him and put her hands on her hips.  
"You just came through the door and you're already asking about food?" she raised an eyebrow. He just shrugged and chuckled. She just let out a small sigh and looked back to her computer.   
"I'll look up something to make here in a minute." she said. Jack replied with an 'Okay' and got up to leave to his bedroom. He opened the door and plopped down on the bed. He pulled out his cell phone and began listening to music. The first song to started playing was Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne. He hummed to the lyrics as he started going through his Myspace. Not too many messages. So he pulled out his homework assignments that were handed out today. Not much, just a couple of really easy sheets. One of them was from Algebra and the other was from Spanish. He began working on the Spanish work sheet, now humming the lyrics to The Anthem by Good Charlotte.   
Jack had suddenly found himself doodling all over a sheet of paper, writing song lyrics and drawing random and inappropriate things. He sighed and cursed when he saw that he barely finished any of his homework. He usually got distracted from work very easily. This was the main reason why he would fail classes at school. He always had to come up with bullshit excuses why he didn't have his homework to turn in the next day. Then he'd get 30 points taken off for turning them in 5 days late. He ran his fingers roughly through his hair and looked over to his phone. He pressed the 'home button' and the clock read 6:14 pm. He figured his dad would be home soon and his mom was probably about to start making dinner. He realized his sister hadn't come home that day. He just shrugged and assumed that she was out with her friends like she always was. He closed his notebook and stood up from his bed and stretched. He walked out and he could smell food being cooked. He followed the smell into the kitchen and saw his mom making what looked like stir fry.   
"Ugh, mom! I'm so hungry!" he groaned throwing his arms around her.  
"It's almost done!" he said trying to push him off.   
"Okay, mom" he smiled and let her go. He decided to waste time by taking a shower now, in hopes his hair would be dry later before he went to bed. Also, when he got out,more than likely the food would be ready. He made his way to the bathroom which was down the hallway. He walked in and closed the door behind him, locking it. He turned on the shower to the desired temperature and stripped down of his clothing. He stepped in and instantly developed chill bumps on his skin as the warm water ran down his body. It was really relaxing. He let is soak his hair before shampooing and conditioning. Shower time was usually the time of day where Jack did a lot of thinking. He got ideas and would sometimes over-think in the shower. He was thinking about his day at school today, wondering about how his friendship with Rian and Zack would end up like. Then he thought about how hard school work was going to get. He then began thinking about band class and how it was going to probably really fun. Probably not, but hey, it's something new. Not to mention the teacher, Mr. Gaskarth. He was really funny and sarcastic. Definitely someone Jack could get used to. He never really liked his teachers before except maybe a few in his whole life. Though if he had to chose, he'd rather talk to other teachers than other classmates. At least they were more mature and not so, well, stupid.   
He turned off the water and stepped out, grabbing the towel he placed on the toilet, which was waiting for him. He put it over his head first and tried drying off his hair. Then he wrapped it around his waist. He took a quick glance in the mirror before leaving to his room. He continued to dry off and put back on some clothes. He just put on some boxers and a T-shirt, deciding it was late and no need to wear pants in his own home. He looked out the window and saw that his dad's car was home, meaning he would be here to eat dinner with him and his mom. Yet May, his sister, was still not home. He just shrugged, knowing he wouldn't miss her anyways.   
After a slightly awkward dinner just talking to his parents about his day, and for some reason his dad telling him he needed to start thinking about a job, he decided it was time to call it a day and headed to bed. He told his mom goodnight while his dad just went out to the garage to chill, so no point in bothering him. Jack walked his sleepy head to his room and laid back down on the bed. He set an alarm on his phone, hoping he would actually wake up to it this time. His eyes closed as he slowly drifted into a deep sleep, thinking if this next week of school would turn out to be better than expected.


	2. *filler*

Jack had made sure to bring his guitar to school the next day, ready to start playing. The boys sat around togher in band class and waited for intructions from the teacher. Jack was especially curious to start, he wondered what it was people actually did in band class, besides playing intruments that is. 

"What songs can you play on that thing?" Zack asked, motioning towards Jack's guitar with his eyes. 

"I can play a few Blink, Green Day, and New Found Glory songs" said Jack.

"Nice" Zack replied simply.

"Dude, what do you think Mr. G is going to have us do today?" Rian asked mainly to Zack.

"I don't know but i guess we're about to find out" he said as he noticed the teacher standing from his seat.

"Okay, class, today i'm too lazy to do anything so I want you guys to just get in groups and practice" he said as he stood in front of the whole class. Rian got up and walked over to the small drum set located in the back of the class. He sat down as Zack and Jack gathered next to him, making a small circle. 

"What are we practicing?" Jack asked, only recieving a shrug from Rian and Zack. 

"Why don't you show us some skills on that guitar" Zack suggested. Jack bit his lip. No one's ever asked him to play a song for them. What if they thought he sucked? He ran his fingers through all of the strums one quick time then began picking at them, forming a nice tune known as Good Riddance by Green Day. As he played Rian and Zack began nodding their heads to the rhythm. 

"Hey, you're not half bad, man" Zack said, breaking the music. 

"Thanks" Jack almost stuttered. No one has ever complimented his guitar skills before. It flattered him exsessively. 

"Do you write any music of your own?" Zack asked.

"Yeah but they're not that great to be honest" Jack said. Suddenly the teacher interrupted, just as Zack was about to say something else. He said, "Mr. Jack, could you come over here for a second?", in a polite manner. Jack looked over to Zack and Rian who just shrugged. Jack swallowed hard and stood up. Taking his guitar with him, he made his way over to the Teacher who resided at his desk.

"So", he began, "I'm interested to hear you play" he said. Why were people so interested? It's just guitar. Jack thought maybe the teacher just liked to hear new students play to see how good they were. 

"What do you want me to play?" he asked. 

"Anything you want" Gaskarth replied with a small smile. Jack thought for a quick moment then he held his fingers up to the strings. He began playing a small acoustic piece of Sugar We're Going Down by Fall Out Boy. The teacher's smile grew a little bigger as he watched the boy work the chords. Jack only bothered to watch the guitar, wondering what the teacher might be thinking at this point. 

"Wow, Mr. Jack", he said, "You did better than I thought you would" he said sounding slightly impressed. Jack looked up and made a small smile. 

"How long have you been playing guitar?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Since I was 12" he replied. The teacher made a slow and small nod. 

"You can go back to your buddies now" He said politely. Jack said a small 'okay' before turning away. 

"Oh, and, Mr. Jack, you have a great taste in music" He made a charming half-smile. 

"Thanks" Jack smiled. He returned back to his original seat with Zack and Rian, feeling even more flattered than before. 

"So what did he want?" Rian asked curiously. 

"He just wanted to hear me play, that's all" Jack said. 

"We should get together and play some time. Just me, Rian, and you with our instruments" said Zack. 

"Okay" Jack smiled again. He started to feel even happier. Some one was actually inviting him to play music with them. He always wanted to start a band with some one. It was always his dream to start a band and maybe even become famous one day. He dreamed of one day being the one on stage instead of the one cheering in the crowd. Going to interviews, signings, tours, and just having fun with his band mates. He was getting a little ahead of himself though. For now, playing with friends was enough.


	3. Kids These Days

Jack slipped his black converse over his long feet and tied the strings into two perfect loops. He stood up from his bed and walked over to his guitar then grabbed the case that conveniently resided next to it. He placed the guitar in its rightful case and closed it. He threw on a black jacket with white strings and a white zipper, before throwing the guitar over his shoulder. He then grabbed his car keys and placed them the pocket of his jacket and left the room. He walked down the steps with loud stomps into the living room where he saw his parents, where they usually always were, besides work that is. They looked at him with questionable stares, as if waiting for him to explain why he was dressed to leave.

“Uhm,” he began awkwardly, “Is it okay if I go to my friend, Rian’s, house?” His parents exchanged looks, as if they were reading each other’s’ mind. Jack felt a slight nervousness in the pit of his stomach. What if they said no? He would hate to have to tell Rian and Zack that he couldn’t come because he had lame parents who won’t let him do anything. His mom then looked back at him, snapping him out of his thoughts, praying internally that she would say yes.

“Who is Rian?” she asked.

“My friend that I met at school.” He replied.

“Nice to see you’re finally making friends” his dad said almost rudely. He just ignored his comment and kept his eyes locked with his mother’s.

“When will you be back home?” she asked.

“I’m not really sure”, he began, thinking that his mom would probably say no after saying that, “I’ll call you when I’m on my way home though.” He added, thinking it would make his situation better. After what seemed like the longest minute of his life his mom finally opened her mouth to speak.

“Okay, I guess you can go. Just don’t forget to call.” She said sternly. Jack felt a big weight lift off of his shoulders just then. He walked over to his mom and hugged her goodbye and waved to his father who almost ignored him. He turned away from them and headed out the door, closing it behind him. He trotted over to his car and pulled the keys out of his pocket, unlocking the door. He put his guitar in the back seat in a position he thought would be sturdy enough to withstand sharp turns. He started the engine and buckled himself to the chair. He pulled out of the driveway and started going toward Thames St. where Rian’s house was located. He remembered Rian saying the house number was 284 so that is what he would search for. After getting lost almost 3 times he managed to come across a small yet nice white house. It was very rectangular looking from the outside. It had a small garage connected at the end, a small wooden porch and a big front window that protruded outward. There was a perfect amount of trees and bushes in the front yard, though Jack was probably the only person who cared about that kind of thing to notice. He read the number 284 next to the front door and decided not to waste any more time. He climbed out of his car and retrieved the guitar from the backseat, still in one piece. He threw it back over his shoulder and made sure to lock his car before leaving it unattended. He walked up to the front door and knocked. He waited there patiently, wondering if maybe this wasn’t the right house and that he’d look stupid when the wrong people answer the door. To his enjoyment, he was glad to see that Rian had answered the door. He greeted him with a smile and Jack returned it.

“Glad you could make it” He said.

“Me too, I thought my parents weren’t going to let me” he replied.

“Come in, Zack’s already in the basement.” He motioned him to come inside. Jack stepped in and instantly smelled an aroma of what reminded him of clean laundry. Rian lead him to a door which leads downstairs to the basement. Jack followed behind, staying awkwardly silent. The wooden steps made small creaks as their heavy bodies stood on them. They arrived in a room which was occupied by Zack who was sitting on one of the chairs placed in the room. The basement was practically like a whole other living room except with band equipment in it.

“Nice place.” Jack commented.

“Yeah I send more time in here then I do anywhere else in the house.” He said.

“It’s about time you showed up” Zack remarked.

“Hey, I’m just fashionably late.” Jack replied. They all made a small laugh at his remark.

“It’s not even that late in the day to be honest.” Rian said.

“I’m ready to start playing!” Zack jumped to his feet.

“Already?” Jack asked. Rian just shrugged and decided to just agree with Zack. Jack just shrugged too and took his guitar off of his shoulder and placed it gently on a chair, pulling out the contents from inside. Rian took his place at his drum set, while Zack just stood nearby with his guitar. Jack turned to the group with his guitar wrapped around him.

“Remember those songs you talked about? Y’know, the ones you wrote?” Zack mentioned.

“Yeah” Jack replied.

“You should play one.” He suggested. Jack gulped and nodded. He placed his fingers in their correct spots on the strings to begin. He tugged at the strings; forming a melody he called “Running from Lions”. He kept his head down, watching the guitar and his hands, not paying any mind to the two impressed boys that stood in front of him. With every string he plucked, he created a beautiful constant sound. Suddenly Zack decided to add his own sound, a background noise to add affect. Zack too plucked at the strings of his own guitar, coinciding their melodies. Rian soon picked up his drum sticks and joined them. He tapped at his drums in a way he thought suited the song, which it did. Now they were all playing. The sound of their instruments brought them together. Jack’s song soon became their song. Once they were done Jack looked up at the two smiling faces and couldn’t help but smile back.

“That”, Zack paused for a second, “That was pretty awesome” he heaved a laugh.

“Yeah” Rian agreed with a wide grin.

“That song was really good, too. So you wrote that?” Zack continued.

“Yeah” Jack felt flattered.

“That’s really good!” Zack complimented. Jack’s smile grew bigger, he didn’t even have to say ‘thank you’, his smile said it for him.

“Do you have any other songs?” He asked. Jack nodded in response.

“Yeah, only a couple though. I don’t write songs very often and when I do they usually suck. So I don’t really have that many” he said.

“Well, play one for us.” Rian suggested. Jack nodded and looked down to his guitar again. His lips shifted to the side as he thought to himself. His hand then came down to the neck of the guitar, fingers going to their correct places. Not too long after he began playing, the boys picked up on the rhythm and joined in, just like the last song. All of their natural talents and good taste in music allowed them to create the perfect sound.

Once the song ended Zack spoke, “You’re really good with that guitar, dude” he flattered Jack.

“Thanks” he smiled.

“You’re just what we need to start a band” Rian piped up.

“Would you like to start a band with us?” Zack turned to Jack with a hopeful smile.

“Yeah!” Jack didn’t even need to think twice. They all passed smiles back to one another. There seemed to be a glint in their eyes. Their dreams of starting a band were slowly coming together.

They spent the next 3 hours playing songs and trying to write some of their own. They had music sheets crumpled up all around the floor from failed ideas. Their brains felt strained from trying to come up with the right chords and beats. At first they thought it would be easy and fun but it slowly became old and stressful. Zack was laying on the old, beat-up looking couch while Rian and Jack sat on the other two recliners. They eventually became too lazy to pass ideas back and forth so they just decided to accept defeat and sulk around on the chairs.

“This is why I don’t write songs that often” said Jack.

“Understandably” Rian replied. There was a long pause of silence.

“Well let’s just take a break and do something else.” suggested Zack.

“Like what?” Rian turned to him and so did Jack.

“I don’t know”, he shrugged, “Want to mess with some people?” he smirked devilishly.

“What do you mean?” Jack asked with curiosity filling him inside.

“I mean we go out around the neighborhood and prank some people. It’s really funny. Like, hood rat stuff.” said Zack.

“Sounds fun.” Jack said.

“How’re we going to prank ‘em?” Rian asked.

“I don’t know. Ding-dong-ditching?” he shrugged.

“Nah, that’s kind of lame. That’s something middle school kids do.” said Rian.

“What about egging houses?” suggested Jack. Rian and Zack looked to each other then back at Jack, nodding approvingly.

“Got some eggs?” Zack asked Rian.

“Yeah” he said as he stood up. Zack stood up second, Jack stood up after him. They all ventured upstairs and into the kitchen, grabbing the only two cartons of eggs that Rian had supplied in his fridge. They then left the house, after Rian got consent of his mother, of course. Zack teased Rian about how he was such a “momma’s boy”. Anyways, they walked down the street, out of sight from any cars that may drive by so they wouldn’t get caught. It was 7 o’clock and it was already getting dark. Street lights were beginning to turn on. They walked for about a mile, Zack suggested it would be safer to go to houses that were considerably far from Rian’s. They decided not to waste any more time and began picking houses, throwing a couple eggs at their front porch. They only threw a few at a time because they only had two cartons, only 12 in each, which only gives them 24 to throw. Ew, math. Nonetheless though, they needed to be sparing with them.

Jack felt very mischievous, never had he ever done something like this. He knew that throwing eggs at someone’s house wasn’t anything big; it was just really fun for his first time. There was even an old couple who came out and yelled at them, which to them was really funny. They usually ran off when a porch light came on, not wanting anyone to see them and call the cops or something. They scanned through houses as the continued walking; wanting to make sure they egged the “important” houses. Usually a home that they thought belonged to someone who would surely get mad if they found raw eggs all over their front door. Or a house that looked really nice, obviously someone who spends a lot of time making sure their home looks good on the outside. They didn’t care though; they’re teenagers with nothing better to do.

They walked for a few minutes, again scanning through the different houses when suddenly Rian stopped.

“What?” Zack raised an eyebrow.

“Isn’t that Mr. Gaskarth’s house?” he pointed to a small little blue house that stood across the street.

“I don’t know.” Zack shrugged, “I don’t exactly know what his house looks like” he added in a smart-alec-y tone.

“Go egg his house” Rian pushed Jack forward. Jack, feeling brave, took his challenge and sneakily walked over to the peaceful little house until he was close enough to throw an egg. Zack and Rian hid behind some bushes from across the street, watching Jack. He picked an egg from the last few that he had and aimed at the door, throwing it with a quick fling of his arm. It landed perfectly on the front door. He silently laughed to himself at the thought of his teacher waking up the next morning and finding out some asshole threw an egg at his door. Just as he was about to throw his second egg the porch light came on. He cursed under his breath and turned to run. Unfortunately he didn’t run fast enough and he heard someone yell from behind, “Jack!?” Yup, that was Mr. Gaskarth. He ran until the house was completely out of sight. He leaned against a light pole and tried catching his breath. Rian and Zack appeared next to him, laughing hysterically.

“Oh my god, that was priceless” Rian laughed.

“He looked so pissed.” Zack added with a smirk.

“I wish I had brought a camera” said Rian.

“Dude, I’m going to be in so much trouble for that” Jack groaned. The thought of having to face his teacher at school Monday brought an anxious feeling to his stomach.

“I shouldn’t have listened to you guys” he groaned again.

“Come on, you know that was funny.” Rian sniggered.

“Maybe to you guys but now I’m fucked.” said Jack. He began wondering if Mr. Gaskarth would call his parents. Then he’d have to go home and listen to his mother lecture him on “bad influences” and she’d probably ground him for a while. His night was just slowly caving in on him. It was fun at first but now he was regretting it.

“Maybe you won’t get in trouble. Does he know it was you?” Zack asked.

“Well I heard him yell my name” he said disappointedly.

“Don’t worry about it. All you did was throw an egg at his door. It’s not like you did any permanent damage” Rian tried reassuring him. Jack only sighed in annoyance.

“Whatever. Let’s just leave” said Jack as he began walking. Zack and Rian walked behind him, still giggling at the previous scene all the way back to Rian’s house. Jack spent the rest of the night thinking about how screwed he was going to be when he returned to school and how awkward it was going to be to face his music teacher, or how shitty being grounded was going to be.


	4. Why So Serious?

As the boys approached their music class, Jack felt a massive uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

“What do you think he’s going to say?” Rian asked. 

“I don’t know” Jack replied. He swallowed hard as they all entered, Jack standing behind the other two. Jack noticed Mr. Gaskarth writing on the board, not seeing Jack come in. Jack sat down at his desk, trying not to look up.

“So class,” the silence broke.

“-To start off, I’m going to pass out some papers.” Mr. Gaskarth walked over to his desk, grabbing a thin stack of paper. He held the papers in his arm, licking his thumb and handing them out one by one. Jack sank lower and lower in his chair as he got closer.

“I hope everyone had a good weekend” he announced as he stood in front of Jack’s desk. He swallowed hard, not wanting to look up, he could feel his teacher’s eyes piercing though him. He saw a paper appear in front of him, being laid on his desk. The first thing he noticed was a note written in red ink.

‘Meet me after class

-AG’

Jack groaned internally. He didn’t want the class period to end.

“What’s that?” asked Rian, he and Zack leaning to Jack.

“He wanted me to stay after class. He’s probably going to stab me or something” he joked. Rian and Zack laughed at him teasingly.

“Sucks to be you.” Zack taunted. Jack bravely looked up at the teacher, who in return was already staring at him with crossed arms, like he was burning a hole through his soul. Jack gulped and sunk back into his seat.

One hour later, the bell couldn’t have ringed sooner.

“Good luck” Rian said, patting his shoulder, Zack following along too. Everyone swarmed out of the classroom, leaving on Jack and Mr. Gaskarth in the room. He reluctantly got up from his desk and approached his teacher who was wiping away words from the board with an eraser. After a moment of awkward silence, Jack finally spoke up.

“Mr. Gaskarth…?”

“Ah, Mr. Jack, how can I help you?” he said with a blank face, as if he were trying to be cheerful but Jack knew he was just being sarcastic.

“You wanted to talk to me?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

“And do you know why I wanted to talk to you?” the teacher finally turned around looking at him with an unimpressed expectant look.

“Because I tried to make scrambled eggs on your front porch?” Jack fiddled with his hands nervously.

“Yes, and I hate scrambled eggs, especially at 8 o’clock at night, on my door” he said in what wouldn’t of been a joking manner if he weren’t slightly pissed.

“So… should I make them over-easy next time?” he asked innocently.

“Yes, you should-“he turned around grabbing something off of his desk.

“During detention.” He handed him a little pink slip which read:

‘After schools detention for : Jack Barakat

Hours: Monday – Friday @ 2:40 – 3:40’

“You’ll have enough time to make as many eggs as you’d like and you won’t have to throw them on my front door.” Jack’s face fell as he stuck the slip in his pocket. He knew his parents were going to be pissed when they found out. He dismissed himself from his music class to get to his next period. He groaned internally all the way there.

 

\--

 

Mr. Gaskarth was sitting at his desk, typing and scrolling on his computer. Jack was up and cleaning off the marker board.

“You missed a spot” the teacher teased. Jack just rolled his eyes, earning a grin from his teacher. 

“So who put you up to it?” he locked his fingers together and laid them on his lap. He looked at his teacher with a slightly confused look.

“Y’know, who got you to egg my house?”

“Nobody. I did it at my own free will” jack retorted.

“You know, you’re lucky I’m not going to tell your parents about this.” equally retorting. Jack stayed silent.

“I remember when I used to go out and egg houses” Mr. Gaskarth looked up at the ceiling.

“You sound like my grandpa.” Jack spoke.

“Hey, I’m only 23, you know.” He said defensively.

“Aren’t you a little young to be a teacher?” Jack quirked an eyebrow.

“I’m just smart” he responded cockily.

“Besides, aren’t you a little young to be out late at night?” he smirked.

“I’m 17” Jack said flatly.

“Oh, excuse me.” His teacher teased.

“You’re so old.” He added with a grin.

“This is detention, why are you talking to me?” Jack sprayed another paper towel with board cleaner. His teacher just shrugged. After a moment he looked at his wrist watch and cleared his throat.

“Wow, time sure does fly by when you’re having fun” he teased.

“It’s been an hour now, you’re free to go” he said. Jack sat the cleaner on the edge of the board and grabbed up his bag. 

“See you tomorrow, Mr. Jack” he called right as Jack was standing at the door.

 

“Yeah, yeah” Jack responded before closing the door.


	5. The Ultimate Duty

“So how was detention?” Zack asked with a smirk as put stuffed a small French fry smothered in ketchup into his mouth.

“Best experience of my entire life.” Jack said sarcastically, “Thank you, guys. So much.”

“No problem, man” Rian gave him a big, rough pat on his small bony shoulder with his thick wide hand.

“I should egg your guys’ house” Jack just rolled his eyes.

“We actually feel pretty bad about getting you into detention” said Zack as he began squeezing more ungodly amounts of the red substance he called ketchup onto his potatoes called French fries. Jack just raised his brow, not believing a second of it.

“Yeah, so to say sorry, we made you this” said Rian as he handed him what looked like a home-made card, a piece of pink construction paper folded. Jack took the small folded paper, opening up to see big green letters written in crayon that spelt “Sorry” a small coupon taped on that said “$1 off your next carton of Eggland’s best eggs!”

“Screw the both of you” Jack groaned, throwing the card at them across the table.

“Yeah, sorry about that” Rian began snickering along with Zack, “I think that coupon expired two years ago” the both of them began laughing and snorting, turning red in the face. Jack wished Zack would choke on his fries.

“Go ahead and laugh” Jack narrowed his eyes, “Happier souls taste the best.”

“You’re mad now but in a couple years from now we can all look back on this and have a good laugh.” Rian said with a big cheeky grin.

“No we won’t.” said Jack, “because by then I’ll already have you guys killed.” he crossed his arms on the cold table top.

“Have some fries” Zack offered, “Ketchup always makes me feel better” he said.

“You know, I don’t think fries are the best choice for breakfast.” said Jack flatly.

“What are you, the breakfast police?” Zack asked defensively.

“He gets protective over his ketchup.” said Rian.

“Yeah, I got that.” Jack said plainly.

 

\--

 

“Okay, class” said their English teacher, Mrs. Sykes as she turned to her students. “I have something special planned for you guys” she said as she began hauling out a large cardboard box.

“Please be strippers” Zack crossed his fingers.

“I don’t think she could fit anyone in that box” Jack rolled his eyes at the stupid remark. The whole class, including the three boys watched as she began to open the flaps of the brown box. Suddenly she began pulled out small stacks of books at a time until there was one large stack of books on her desk.

“So, does anyone want to guess what this is?” she asked, motioning to the books. The class stayed silent. “This” she blew a small strand of her own hair out of her face as she held up a book, “is Romeo and Juliet.” and half of the class just sighed in disappointment, as if expecting something amazing from their English teacher.

“We all know who William Shakespeare is” she said, “or at least I hope you do” she added, “But how many of you have actually read this story?” she asked, only getting a couple raised hands.

“That’s good.” she said, “because I’m assigning you all a book to read” she said with a smile but received none in return, only groans.

“I know you all are excited” he smiled delightedly, “Now, I’ll begin handing these out” she said as she did so, going row by row to hand them books. Jack waited patiently as the four other students in front of him began passing back the stack of books until it came down to just one, resting in Jack’s thin pale hands. He looked down at the book’s cover, scanning over the two figures who were obviously Romeo and Juliet. The girl with long golden colored hair who stood at a tall balcony with her arm reached out towards the man in a ridiculous red outfit with the words Romeo & Juliet in large cursive font at the top and written by William Shakespeareat the bottom.

“This is gay.” Rian said flatly, leaving the book on his desk. 

“What did you expect?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know but I was hoping it wouldn’t be anything like this.” Rian scoffed.

“It wouldn’t hurt to learn a little literature.” said Jack.

“Since when do you care so much about books?” Zack raised a brow.

“I don’t.” said Jack plainly with a slight shrug.

“So the plan is” began the teacher as she hopped up onto her desk instead of sitting in her chair, “You guys read the book. Then, you are required to write a summary on the book. Or we could do a project.” she said and began the choir of sighs from the students.

“You guys have two months to read this story.” she announced. “So no hurry.” she said.

“Oh boy, two months?” Rian groaned, “It takes me two months just to read one chapter.” he huffed. As Jacked looked down at the book, he was determined to finish this book by the deadline. He was never too keen on finishing projects but this time he vowed to actually get shit done this year.

 

\--

 

Jack sat in his Biology class, staring at the clock as it almost struck 2:35. Five more minutes and he’d have to sit with Mr. Gaskarth again. That gave him enough time to get to his locker to put things away and get to his classroom on time. He watched as the long thin red stick ticked slowly, one second as a time before his eyes.

10…9…8…

It ticked and ticked,

7…6…5…

Only five more seconds,

4…3…2…

The belly rang abruptly, kids jumping up one by one from their desks, shoving papers, books, binders, and folders into their bags to get out as quickly as they could to get home. Unfortunately for Jack, he’d be staying an extra hour. Jack stood up, picking up his biology book before walking out of the room to get to his locker. He turned the lock until it opened, throwing in his book before slamming it back shut, making his way to the music room with a small sigh. He wondered what kind of labor he’d put him through this time.

Jack stepped towards the large white door of the building, grabbing the knob with another sigh and turned it, opening the door to see an empty class except his teacher, throwing a paper airplane.

“Mr. Jack!” he exclaimed exuberantly, “So glad you could make It.” he grinned. Jack just rolled his eyes, laying his backpack down in the corner.

“Could you fly that back to me?” he asked, pointing to the small little paper airplane that landed in front of Jack’s feet. Jack bent down, picking it up between his fingers and threw it so that it glided back to him safely.

“Isn’t she a beauty?” he asked, marveling the folded notebook paper. “A student made it.” he said, “It’s too bad I had to take it from him. Such great craftsmanship” he looked at the paper admirably, earning a weird look from Jack. 

“Anywho” he sat down the small plane on his desk and sat up in his chair, “What would you like to do for me today?” he wore a grin on his face that Jack wished he could punch off.

“Can’t decide?” he asked when Jack stayed silent for too long.

“That’s okay, I already had something in mind” he said as he stood up. Jack watched as he turned around, opening a closet to pull out what looked like a metal spatula.

“Uhh…” Jack gave the shining metal object a funny look.

“Are you ready” he said, “for the most stunning experience of your life?” he asked.

“I’m not sure” Jack shook his head.

“I’m asking you to do the honors…” he said with a voice full of suspense, “This job will be the greatest thing that you have ever done with your life” he held up the spatula in his hands.

“Do you promise to hold this spatula with pride?” he asked, Jack just shrugging in response.

“Good because I need you to scrape the gum off of the desk” he said casually, placing the spatula in Jack’s hand.

“What?” Jack gave him an almost horrified look, “No way!” he groaned.

“Hey, don’t get to upset” he said as he sat back down, “You get to keep what you find.” he smiled. Jack just huffed, turning to one of the desks to begin his newly given job as the ‘gum scraper’.

 

About 40 minutes and 58 pieces of gum later, Jack eventually broke silence and sighed heavily.

“There are child labor laws against this, you know?” Jack huffed as he worked the flat metal against a big blob of sticky blue gum.

“Thou shall not force thy child to scrape unlawful gum from thy unlawful desks” Alex joked.

“Yeah I know” he said, “My parents went to jail for making me scrape gum off of desks for 30 minutes.”

“40.” Jack correct.

“Oh man, then I must really be in some trouble” he said as he threw the paper airplane into the air, watching as it landed in the corner of the classroom.

“So do your parents know where you’re going after school?” he asked, “I mean, they must realize you’ve been coming home an hour late.” he said.

“I told them I’ve been staying after for music class” said Jack as he peeled the hard piece of minty blue gum off of the wood, tossing it into the trash can which was now full of gum in every color of the rainbow, “Which technically isn’t lying.”

“Ah, smart boy” he nodded impressively.

“Don’t you have more important things to do after school instead of watch little kids clean?” he asked.

“Yeah” he admitted, “but it’s a rule of the school that all teachers have to stay until 3:40.” he pointed out, “So I’m taking you down with me.” Jack sighed, laying the spatula down on the desk top.

“Done.” he announced.

“No way” said Mr. Gaskarth as he stood up, walking to every desk to inspect it.

“Well, I’ll be darned.” he said as he turned to Jack, “You are done.” he smiled.

“Good job!” he congratulated, holding his hand out to shake but quickly pulled it back to his side when he remembered he had just been handing gum from all kinds of different mouths.

“you might want to clean that” he said as he pointed to his hand. Jack just rolled his eyes.

“Can I go now?” he asked desperately.

“Hmm” Gaskarth looked at his watch, “You finished 10 minutes early” he said, “But I see no use of keeping you here” he turned back to sit back down on his chair.

“Well?” Jack looked at him.

“yeah, you can go.” he said as he leaned back in his seat. Jack sighed in relief and went to grab his backpack, leaving as fast as he could.

“See you tomorrow, Mr. Jack!” waved Gaskarth as the door shut with a loud thud.


End file.
